


A Siren's Unfinished Song

by RunaLiore



Series: LisaYuki [4]
Category: BanG Dream! Girl's Band Party! (Video Game)
Genre: AU where everyone in Roselia is a monster and it's cute but also terrifying, F/F, Fluff, Gen, Halloween, Monsters, Revenge
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-31
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2019-08-11 12:56:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16475981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RunaLiore/pseuds/RunaLiore
Summary: Roselia Monsters AU for Halloween 2k18!This story is a quick mashup of A Song Unfinished, events from Roselia's band story, and a couple new additions.Yukina is a monster Siren, just like her father, but years ago her father was tricked into signing away his voice to a record label and ever since then, he's been unable to sing or speak. As Roselia's next concert approaches, is Yukina in danger of meeting the samw fate?





	A Siren's Unfinished Song

**Author's Note:**

> Hi Everyone! And thanks for reading ☺ This is mostly meant to be a silly, hopefully fun AU one-shot so it may not hold up under scrutiny but I hope it's a fun Halloween fic. I'll absolutely be writing more things with werewolf Sayo though.

Mornings were never ideal, at least not for Yukina. They were necessary, and she could tolerate them, but beyond that they held no appeal for her. It was especially difficult in the spring and summer, when the sun rose earlier and earlier each day–a Siren’s skin is sensitive to the light so despite being cold-blooded, Yukina always pulled her comforter up over her head rather than suffer the prickly sensation of morning sunlight.

This morning, as it happened on most days, Yukina rolled over to avoid the sunrise and found a soft, warm bundle of fluff curled up against her side. She reached down absently and felt a furry tail, sleepily moving her hands up to a large, fluffy brown cat’s head and scratching its ears. The cat purred happily and rolled over against Yukina, stretching its back and then climbing up through the covers to softly headbutt Yukina in the face. With the sleep still clinging to her eyes, Yukina’s lips curled into a soft smile and she scratched the cat’s chin. Then, as the cat let out a contented “mraow!”, Yukina’s eyes went wide and she shot upright in bed.

“Lisa! What are you–” Yukina felt her heart pounding and her vision went black for an instant as her blood coursed slowly through her body. She slumped forward and held her head up with one hand; while she grumbled to herself, the cat sat upright, startled, and then hopped down to the floor. A soft glow filled the room and a moment later, Lisa stood at Yukina’s bedside, still wearing the pajamas she had on the night before as her fluffy brown tail drooped down toward the floor. 

“Ah, Yukina! Sorry,” Lisa smiled and reached out to touch Yukina’s shoulders, “I guess I crawled under the covers at some point last night while I was asleep.”

“It’s fine,” Yukina said, still struggling against the faintness in her arms and legs, “You startled me, though. You should be more careful about that in the future.”

That, of course, was not at all what Yukina really wanted to say. She would have much rather said nothing and reached over to bury her face against Lisa’s chest, to pull her back down to the bed and hold her a while until Yukina’s body warmed and the drowsiness of morning faded. The two of them had stayed up well past midnight the night before, working on arrangements for Roselia’s next performance and preparing their new song. Since it was so late, Yukina offered to let Lisa stay over and sleep on her bed, provided she did it as a cat and on top of the covers. Otherwise, Yukina wouldn’t have been able to stop herself from stroking Lisa’s fur and scratching her ears all night long. It was sometimes a trial, having a best friend who was a cat that gained enough magical power to become a witch, but Yukina never really meant any of her complaints. 

“Oh! Yukina, it’s already past eight!” Lisa glanced at her phone and then hurried around the room, picking up her bass and gathering the rest of the things she’d carried over the night before. “I’m heading back to get ready, I’ll see you in an hour!” 

Yukina watched, still bleary eyed as Lisa hefted her bass up onto her back and opened the sliding door to the balcony. As she stepped outside, Lisa paused over the threshold and turned back to wink.

“Oh, and I’ve got more cookies to bring for practice so you can finish all of those if you’d like.”

Yukina nodded, still barely awake. “Alright. I’ll see you in an hour.”

Lisa lingered a moment to smile again before she leapt up onto the balcony rails and then hopped back through the door to her own bedroom. Seeing Lisa jump so quickly and casually was always unnerving, but Lisa was a cat after all, and even if she did fall she could easily cast a spell to catch herself or cushion her fall without a second’s thought. It still made Yukina’s heart skip a beat, though.

The sun began creeping closer and Yukina heard the heaters coming on downstairs. With her body mostly awake and her eyes mostly focused, she pushed her comforter aside and stretched her wings out to soak in the warm air. The thin, blue speckled membrane of her wings stretched between dark, dusky grey bones and ended in short, hooked claws and smooth talons. The scales across Yukina’s back and shoulders shimmered in the light like gossamer and as she climbed out of bed, her webbed toes spread across the plush carpeted floor. Just as Lisa had mentioned, it was already past eight and Roselia had a reservation at CiRCLE for a quarter past ten; if they wanted to keep their place in the schedule, she would have to get ready soon. 

As Yukina moved through the motions of getting herself dressed and brushing her hair, she caught herself munching on the cookies Lisa made for her. Once she finished the cookie in her mouth she thought to stop herself from taking another, but she didn’t. Lisa’s cookies always tasted good, of course, but they were also soothing in a way that reminded Yukina of Lisa’s own presence. Yukina never got tired of them no matter how many she had. Of course, they were also enchanted to help warm the blood and give Yukina a boost of energy early in the morning when her body was still running cold, but that was just an added benefit. 

By the time Yukina had finished brushing her teeth and setting the butterfly pin in her hair, the bag of cookies was empty. With a slightly disappointed sigh, Yukina dropped the empty bag into her trash bin and as she did, she heard her phone buzzing against her dresser.

One new message, from a number she recognized even though she hadn’t stored it in her contacts. She closed her eyes for a moment, considered unlocking her phone, and then decided to worry over it later. She dropped her phone in her bag, picked up a sheaf of sheet music, and headed downstairs to meet Lisa for practice.

 

* * *

 

“Ako! Your tempo’s getting too fast!”

“Ah, right! Sorry!”

“Rinko! Be more careful in the bridge, you switched the notes again!” 

“Y-yes, I’m sorry!”

Roselia’s rehearsal that day was strenuous, to say the least. They had a live show coming up in just a week and with two new songs to learn, they were all more than a little unnerved. As Yukina called out errors and ran through the same phrases over and over again, Lisa realized that Yukina might be the most anxious out of all of them. As Sayo finished the last chords of the song, Lisa stretched her arms up over her head and her tail rose up in a smooth curl.

“Hey, Yukina~” Lisa glanced aside with a light grin, “We’ve been practicing for a couple hours pretty heavy now. Isn’t it about time for a break?”

Yukina’s eyes focused slowly, as if she had just snapped to attention from a daydream. Her gaze softened as she turned to Lisa and, a bit reluctantly, she agreed.

“Alright. We’ll take a ten minute break.” Yukina’s wings fluttered a bit as they folded up against her back. “When we return, we’ll begin again from the top.”

Yukina immediately headed back to her bag and began shuffling through a stack of sheet music, poring over each page. Lisa felt a soft tug against her chest and her smile faded a bit as she fetched the cookies from her bag and headed to Yukina’s side. Even when she called out, though, Yukina didn’t notice her at first.

“Yukina~ Hey, Yukina~” Lisa held out a tiny bag of cookies, “Is everything okay?”

Yukina finally blinked and looked up, slowly taking the cookies and then glancing aside.

“It’s fine.” Yukina said in an entirely unconvincing tone, “We need to fix our errors and perfect this song before next week’s live, though. We can’t afford to spend too much time relaxing like this.”

Lisa grinned and her ear’s perked up. “Really? I think we play better when we have a few more breaks scheduled in. Anyway, Yukina~ I tried a new recipe with this batch!” Lisa sat down beside her and watched Yukina intently, her tail flitting back and forth. Yukina considered the bag of cookies and untied the black ribbon holding it closed. She picked up a single, pumpkin shaped cookie and turned it over in her hand.

“What sort of recipe?”

“It’s a spiced cookie,” Lisa said, “I added cardamom and cloves and cinnamon, and I tried a new spell on it to help everyone feel more energetic too!” Her smile got a bit lopsided and her ears flattened a bit. “I’m not really sure if it’ll work though, but the taste at least should be okay.”

“It will work,” Yukina said without hesitation, crunching into a cookie and nodding to herself, “And it tastes excellent. Everything you make is good.”

“Ahaha, thanks,” Lisa’s tail rose up high and the tip flicked back and forth, “I made a lot so please have as many as you want. Oh! I need to give everyone else their cookies too.”

“Wait, Lisa,” Yukina put a hand on Lisa’s wrist and she looked up to meet Lisa’s eyes, “Thank you, for this and for everything you’ve done to help me with lately.”

“Ah, yeah,” Lisa felt her face flush a bit and she took Yukina’s hand, holding her fingers against her palm, “That’s what childhood friends are for, right? I mean, all of us here want to help you and we’re all working really hard for the live next week, so, you don’t have to worry so much on your own, you know?”

The faintest trace of a smile cross Yukina’s face and she held Lisa’s hand a moment longer before returning to her sheet music.

“Thank you,” was all that she said and Lisa could tell that she was already lost in thought again. 

_ Well, _ Lisa thought, picking up the rest of the cookies she brought along with her,  _ I’ll talk to Yukina about this later… she’s probably still worried about singing her dad’s last song, but she’s probably not ready to talk about it in front of everyone yet… _

Even as Lisa walked away, she was still thinking of Yukina and the things they’d discussed the night before, the plans they set into motion and the goals Yukina held for Roselia. They didn’t have the easiest path ahead of them, but Lisa was always certain that she wanted to be beside Yukina the entire way. She just had to find a way to convince Yukina that she wasn’t alone in this, and hopefully their next live show would do just that…

Lisa headed over to the back of the studio where Ako and Rinko were gathered near Rinko’s keyboard. She could hear them both chatting from across the room, though they looked a bit more anxious than usual.

“That was so cool the way Sayo-san did those last chords!” Ako swept her hands out and struck a pose, “It was like BAAAM and a the fury of the thunder storm of the darkness in the… um… in...”

“The abyss,” Rinko offered.

“The Abyss!” Ako shouted proudly. Lisa walked over with a bag of cookies in each hand and set one down on Rinko’s keyboard.

“Ahaha, Ako aren’t you a vampire though?” Lisa asked, handing Ako the other bag of cookies.

“Yeah, but,” Ako grinned so wide she practically glowed, “RinRin’s such a cool demon lord, and I am her dark vassal of the infinite depths of… um… the darkness!”

“Ako-chan…” The corners of Rinko’s mouth curled up slightly, “you’re so cool.”

“Ah, Rinko,” Lisa leaned forward a bit and studied Rinko’s face, “Are you cold enough? The studio put the heater on earlier today but if you’re too warm I can put a cooling charm on the cookies.”

“T-thank you… it’s okay, though,” Rinko’s eyes drifted away, “It’s not… too warm, for now.”

“That’s right!” Ako bounced in place, smiling as she chomped down on three cookies at once, “Rinrin’s a super ultra incredibly powerful ice demon! It’s always really nice and cold around her.”

“Well, she is,” Lisa said, recalling the half dozen times when Rinko fainted from the heat when it was as little as 15 **°** C, “ but if you get too warm just say something, okay?”

“Mm.” Rinko nodded, frost still gathered on the spiralling horns that poked out through her bangs, “I will. And thank you for the cookies, Imai-san.”

“Yeah!” Ako nodded furiously, “They’re amazing and like baBAAN today!”

Lisa laughed softly and her tail curled gently. “Good, I’m glad they turned out alright. Oh, and I still need to give Sayo hers… Sayo!”

Lisa turned and found Sayo staring at her, her face stern and sullen even though her tail was wagging quickly behind her.

“Imai-san, those cookies,” Sayo sniffed the air once and her ears perked up, “I see, there are peanut butter and caramel candies in them.”

“Wow,” Lisa blinked, pausing for a moment before continuing on and handing the bag over to Sayo, “Yeah, that’s right. I didn’t think you could tell while they were still in the bag.”

Lisa wasn’t surprised, of course, considering that Sayo was a werewolf and even when she was indoors and the moon wasn’t full, she still had a wolf’s sense of smell. She also had an thick, fluffy tail and it always betrayed her mood no matter how much she scowled.

“Of course,” Sayo said, taking the bag and munching on a cookie, “That much is to be expected. Thank you, Imai-san. They’re delicious.”

“Thanks, I’m glad.” Lisa smiled and sighed softly, finally feeling the tension run out of her shoulders and arms. “Alright, everybody! Let’s get fired up for the rest of practice!”

Ako joined in and shouted with Lisa while everyone else stayed silent, but that was normal. What wasn’t normal, however, was the distant look in Yukina’s eyes as she stared at the stack of sheet music in her hand. She was holding a half-eaten cookie and her wings were tucked in close, her fins drooping the same way they did when she was nearing the point of exhaustion. She seemed alright earlier in the day, but whenever Yukina looked like that, Lisa couldn’t stop herself from worrying.

“Hey, Yukina–ah, you’ve got crumbs all over you.” Lisa picked her handkerchief out of her pocket and wiped the corners of Yukina’s mouth. Yukina looked up at her, still a bit distant and barely registering the interaction. 

“Lisa. Is everyone ready to start rehearsal again?”

“Probably,” Lisa said, “Except, you still look kind of out of it… is everything okay? Like really okay? I mean with all of this, and singing your dad’s song, and everything we have planned for the live show… you’ve been pushing yourself really hard.”

Yukina took a slow breath, her scales shimmering a bit as she closed her eyes. As she looked up at Lisa, she took her hand and held it firm. “It’s nothing. We have a lot to do and we can’t afford to fail, so I’ll do whatever it takes. What about you, Lisa?”

“Eh?” Lisa’s ears twitched and turned forward as her eyes widened, “I’m fine, I napped a lot throughout the day yesterday so staying up past midnight is no big deal for me.” 

Yukina raised Lisa’s hand up and gently touched her palm. “Your fingers are already blistered again.”

“Ah,” Lisa looked at her own hands, a bit surprised, “Yeah, I guess they are. It’s okay though, I’ve got a couple healing potions at home, I can just–”

“Lisa,” Yukina looked her in the eye, her voice firm and warm almost to the point of burning, “if Roselia goes down the path I’ve set for us, we’ll have to work for months, likely years, and we can’t afford to burn out quickly or overwork ourselves. You always look out for me and for the rest of the band but in the process you ignore your own injuries.”

“No, I’m fine, really,” Lisa said, her ears turning back and forth and twitching on top of her head, “This much is nothing and besides, I have a lot further to go to catch up to everyone. I have to do at least this much.”

Yukina took Lisa’s fingers in both her hands, carefully and almost reverently holding them up to her face. After she stared at Lisa’s hands for another moment, she nodded.

“Very well then,” Yukina said with perfect balance of sincerity and severity, “You’re doing so much for Roselia and for all of us, Lisa, so I won’t ask you to watch after yourself while you watch over the rest of us. I’ll look after you, instead–and your playing isn’t as far behind the rest of us as you might think. Please appreciate your own efforts more.”

Lisa opened her mouth but she could barely even form a squeak. Her tail was pointed up toward the ceiling and its tip was flitting back and forth while her ears twitched and her face flushed red. She held Yukina’s hand for a moment while she caught her breath, then she tried to look away and hide her face.

“Y-Yukina, that’s…” Lisa tried to force an awkward laugh, but she could already feel a tickle in her throat and so she just held Yukina’s hand for a moment. She was pretty sure that Yukina was still trying to deal with some things on her own, of course, and she wasn’t going to let that go, but Lisa was also feeling incredibly, almost effervescently light and giddy. How else was she supposed to feel when Yukina held her hand and said things like that while looking right at her? She was just one incredibly gay cat after all. 

The rest of the rehearsal went more smoothly, though it was hardly easy and they ended up running over the same phrases again and again until they finally managed to get everything right just before they ran out of studio time. As everyone packed away their instruments and cleaned up the Studio, Lisa headed out to book their next rehearsal session and pay their extra equipment rental fees. By the time she got back, however, she couldn’t find Yukina anywhere in the studio.

“Wait, Yukina?” Lisa stepped back into the hall and looked around again, but Yukina was nowhere in sight.

“Are you looking for Minato-san?” Sayo asked as she pulled her guitar case up onto her shoulder, “She left right behind you. I thought the two of you were heading home together.”

Lisa glanced back down the hall toward the lobby and her ears fell flat. “I thought we were, but… Yukina, where did you go?”

 

* * *

 

That evening, Yukina tied her curtains shut and sighed to herself. Everything was working out just as she planned, but she couldn’t help but shake the stubborn sense of uneasiness that was lodged in the pit of her chest. The walls hummed slightly as the heaters in the house came on and Yukina stretched her wings out to warm them for a while, and just as she settled into the chair at her desk her phone buzzed on the corner of her bed. She let it ring twice before answering–it was the same number she recognized from earlier that morning and before she picked up, she took a slow, steady breath.

“Hello. Nishimoto-san? Yes, I received your message earlier today. Yes. I should have time to review all of the contract terms by the time we meet–You are still planning to attend the live show, correct? Yes, please look forward to it. ...No, I see no reason to involve anyone else in this. I’m more than capable of signing on my own. Of course. Thank you again, Nishimoto-san. Then I’ll see you next week. Goodbye.”

Yukina set her phone down on the desk and stared at the black screen. She knew exactly what she wanted to do and exactly what path she wanted to take, but there was no denying the nervous tension coiling up inside of her.  _ One week, _ She told herself as closed her eyes to calm herself,  _ Just one week until this is all over. _

She spread her hands across the deak slowly, letting her fingers press against the smooth wood as the webbing of her hands stretched taut. After a moment Yukina sighed and picked up her phone again. It would have been better to get to sleep early, she told herself, but there was something important she wanted to do before that. She scrolled through her list of contacts and made another call. She got through before the first ring even finished.

“Hello,” Yukina said, her voice somewhat apologetic, “Lisa?”

 

* * *

 

The night of Roselia’s live concert was clear and crisp with only an inconstant breeze to stir the air. The streets and sidewalks were already quiet under the glow of yellow streetlights, but the block around CiRCLE was buzzing with the din of an anxious crowd. Even before the staff came onstage for Roselia’s first sound test, the café and lobby were already overflowing.

At least some part of the crowd was drawn purely out of fascination and curiosity; it wasn’t often that you saw even a single monsterfolk in a musical act, let alone a whole band. By now though, Roselia’s reputation overshadowed any suggestion that they were a gimmick or a gag. They had fans, and fans who came not only to hear a Siren sing but to hear the entire band play together. Every inch of the concert floor would be packed and everyone in the building would be focused on Roselia’s sound. 

Backstage, Lisa checked her bass strings twice, first to tune them and then again to make sure none of them were in danger of snapping during the middle of their set. She checked a third time just to be certain, though even after that she was half-convinced something would go wrong during their performance. This time, more than any time they’d taken the stage before, there was too much at stake to leave anything up to chance. This concert was too important, both to Roselia and to Yukina in particular.

With her Bass tuned and checked, Lisa hopped up and stretched her arms out, rising up onto the tips of her toes and then falling back on her heels. She glanced across the stage quickly and her ears twitched.

“Yukina? Where’d she go…”

“Ah, Yukina-san?” Ako chimed in from across the stage, “She headed back to the dressing room a couple minutes ago.”

“Thanks!” Lisa waved as she passed, hurrying offstage without even pausing to look aside. Her ears were turning from side to side as she marched to the dressing room door, and as she pulled it open, she felt her fur profiling against her skin. Yukina was there, sitting at the dressing room table… but she wasn’t alone. On the opposite side of the table, with a small attaché case, was a man at least in his mid-forties with a grey-streaked beard and a pair of thin, rectangular glasses that sat low on his nose. As she opened the door, Lisa could tell that the man was in the process of explaining something but as soon as he noticed her standing there, he stopped abruptly.

“Ah, Y-yukina,” Lisa laughed uneasily, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt, I was just looking for you for our sound check and–”

“Haha, no, it’s quite alright,” The man said, smiling with an almost unnerving calm, “It’s nothing that can’t wait until after the show, isn’t that right, Minato-san?”

Yukina shot him a sidelong glance, still firmly seated in her chair. “Yes, we can discuss the rest after the show.”

“Of course.” He bowed slightly and then turned back to Lisa. “Ah, I haven’t introduced myself. My name is Nishimoto, and I’m quite a fan of Minato-san’s band. You’re her bassist, correct?”

“Ah, yes,” Lisa bowed quickly, “Thank you for supporting Roselia and for being a fan.”

Nishimoto smirked and Lisa couldn’t help but feel as if he was sneering at her, no matter how warmly he smiled.

“I should be thanking you, for all that you’ve done to support Minato-san’s talent. It’s very unusual, you know–I don’t see monsterfolk such as yourself in the music industry very often. It really is quite remarkable.”

“Ahaha, is it?” Lisa tried to laugh along with him, but she could tell her tail was already puffed up behind her, “I guess so, we’re the only ones in town apart from Hina that I know of.”

“Well then,” Nishimoto bowed again, glancing back at Yukina as he rose, “Minato-san, I’ll let you continue preparations for tonight’s show. We can talk again once you’ve finished.”

Yukina nodded. “Yes, of course.”

Nishimoto smiled and the corners of his eyes wrinkled. “I wish you all luck, then. I’ll be cheering from the audience. Oh,” He paused on his way toward the door, stopping as he noticed the bowl of Lisa’s cookies on a nearby counter, “Are these the famous cookies I’ve heard about? Minato-san mentioned that you make these for every practice. How admirable.”

Yukina’s eyes narrowed and she grimaced. “You don’t need to bring that up.”

“It’s okay,” Lisa said, smiling more to set Yukina at ease than anything, “um, you can have a few if you’d like. I always make too many anyway.” 

Nishimoto laughed again, almost keenly as he took three cookies from the bowl and immediately popped one of them into his mouth.

“Hm. Quite nice,” He grinned and nodded to Lisa, “Thank you, young lady, and good luck with the show.”

“Yes, please look forward to it!” Lisa smiled again, but her voice and face were clearly strained. The man chuckled again and popped another cookie in his mouth as he left. As the door slid closed behind him, Lisa noticed his business card lying on the table. 

Nishimoto Eijirou, Talent Acquisition: SilverTide Records, LLC. 

A sharp pang rose in Lisa’s chest like a thorn wrapping around her ribs. She wanted to stop time right then and run over to take Yukina’s hand, but before she could move, Yukina was already standing.

“It’s almost time, we should get to the stage.”

Lisa’s tail dropped low and she reached out to touch Yukina’s shoulder, pulling back at the last second.

“Hey, Yukina, is everything okay?”

Yukina moved past her and opened the door. “Everything is fine. Come on, we need to finish the final sound check with everyone.”

“Yukina–”

“I told you, it’s fine.” Yukina’s voice was sharper and more brittle than usual. Her wings folded tight against her back, the way they always did when Yukina was feeling uneasy about something. Lisa took a deep breath and clenched her fist.

“Okay, but we’re talking about this right after the concert. Like immediately right after, okay?”

Yukina closed her eyes, her mouth still flat as she nodded once and then headed into the hall.

“It’s almost time to begin.”

 

* * *

 

“Good Evening. We are Roselia.”

Yukina delivered those words with the gravity of a small planet and cheers flooded the entire live house, spilling through the cracks in the front door and leaking through the windows. A field of glow sticks rose in the dark and swayed softly, almost like anemones on the ocean floor. On stage, Lisa could feel the tension in her chest mingling with the nervous ache in her stomach. Her pulse was pounding and she could barely think of anything in that moment, but the second she held the neck of her bass, all the noise in her nerves quieted to a dull hum, all except for the nagging worry she felt over Yukina. 

Before the house lights went out completely, Lisa looked over the crowd; she could see some of their classmates, some of their friends from the other bands, and near the front of the room, just as she expected, Lisa saw Nishimoto the talent scout. He wore a smug, almost patronizing grin as he watched the stage and Lisa felt her tail puff up again. She whispered a tiny spell under her breath to calm herself and then focused entirely on the sound of Yukina’s voice. 

“Tonight…” Yukina paused, gripping the microphone tight, “We will be performing a cover of a song by the musician I respect most. But, first...” Yukina glanced aside and met Lisa’s eyes. Lisa nodded.

“We’ll begin with our newest song, R!”

As soon as Ako hit her cymbals, Lisa’s fingers began moving across the strings of her bass and soon the music almost carried her hands along almost beyond her own control. As the sound bass and drums crashed against the walls, Yukina’s voice picked up and wove through the crowd like a silver net. She raised her wings and caught the light as her shadow fluttered behind her, and when Rinko and Sayo played their chords, the air itself seemed to ripple as if it held its own pulse. Every note, every beat, and every syllable was falling perfectly into place. When Yukina finished the first verse, Lisa steadied her breath and prepared for the bridge. 

_ As the will you’ve embraced guides you, _

__ _ Gather up all of your dreams, _

__ __ _ Put on a face full of resolve, _

__ __ __ _ Push aside the rushing darkness, _

As Sayo finished her line, the crowd began to sway like seagrass, all flowing in time within the same current. The windows darkened until the outside world disappeared and the stage lights burned so bright the shadows coated every wall as thick as paint. Yukina grabbed the microphone in both hands and sang her next line so loud, the roof trembled.

_ This aura of perfect synchronicity, _

_ We’ll never let it break! _

 

* * *

 

In the crowd, Nishimoto chuckled quietly to himself. Yukina's voice was every bit as powerful as her father's, and she had her own unique appeal. All of the major record labels were tripping over themselves to sign sirens into lengthy contracts, all in hopes that their voices would pull in record sales. Because of that, the talent scouts who brought sirens into the label were always given a hefty bonus, and usually a promotion on top of that. 

Despite being surrounded by the sea of glowstick anemones and the current of Roselia's sound, all Nishimoto could think of were the things he wanted to do with that disgustingly gratuitous bonus once he signed Yukina to his label. He was lost so deep in daydreams that he didn't notice the chill in the air at first. He didn't notice the way the room darkened around it's corners or the way the people around him vanished in a black fog. It was only when he saw the exit signs flicker out that he snapped back to attention, and by then it was already too late.

A thin tendril stretched out around Nishimoto's wrist and he pulled away on reflex; when he looked aside, he screamed. The high school girl who had been standing next to him was gone and in her place stood a huge, black anemone with two glowing tendrils wafting in the air. He scrambled away, but another tendril wrapped around his leg and soon he realized that the entire live house was full of shadowy, monstrous anemones all reaching out to grab him. 

He thrashed and kicked, pushing his way to the door and shrieking each time he felt the tingle of a cold tendril brush against his skin. He slammed into the back wall as he tore himself away from the fog and the creatures that reached for him, and as he reached the exit doors the realized that at some point, the band had stopped playing. At this point though, he didn't care-there was too much adrenaline and fear in his blood to think about things calmly. He pulled the exit doors as hard as he could, but as he did a string of mist wove through the handles and crystallized into a heavy steel chain. Nishimoto pulled again with all his weight and then again, and as he felt the door rattle in his grip, a tremendous force lifted him up and tossed him through the air.

Nishimoto landed flat on his back in the center of the floor, all the wind forced out of his lungs as his spine made an unsettling crunching sound. When he raised his head up, he could see Sayo slowly walking toward him. Her arms we're covered in coarse fur and her eyes shone red like embers, and when she reached him she picked him up with a single, massive claw and held him up by the collar.

“P-please, wait, put me down I promise I'll-”

Before he could finish, Sayo tossed him again. Nishimoto landed in the center of the stage, this time on his hands and knees as he gasped for breath and struggled to pull himself up. Beneath him, he could see frost spreading across the ground and climbing across his fingers. He pulled away and as he did, he saw the frost rise in thin lines all around him and ice began creeping across his legs. He could hear the clatter of hooves just out of view and soon he saw Rinko kneeling there beside him. Her eyes were black as far and icicles dripped from her horns, and as she moved astound him slowly, she dragged a pair of dark claws across the stage to trace the last segment of a perfect, icy pentagram around him. When he opened his mouth to scream, his voice tangled and died on his teeth.

Nishimoto tried to stand and run but his legs were frozen to the stage, and when he tried to chip away at the ice with his hands, Sayo wrenched his arms around behind him and held him still. He struggled to no effect as Sayo tightened her grip, and as he fought against the ice beneath him and his pounding heart, he finally saw her there-Yukina, with her wings unfurled and her eyes full of ice and spite; Yukina with the glow of an unearthly flame behind her; Yukina with the cadence and scorn of a terrible god. He tried to plead, but all that left his mouth was mist.

From the backstage area, a tiny bat fluttered by abd transformed back into Ako. She smiled and bounced up on her heels.

“RinRin, all the secondary seals are finished!” Ako grinned and struck a ridiculous pose. “Prepare to witness the depths of the power of the eternal darkness's… um…vengeance!”

Rinko smiled. “That was perfect.”

“Okay, all the wards are set up too~”

Lisa hopped back on stage and sighed, her hands black with soot and a faint trail of golden fire flickering through the air around her. She moved to Yukina's side at once.

“We only have about eight minutes until time starts back up in the live house though so we should hurry.”

“Yes,” Yukina said, glaring down at Nishimoto with the light at her back, “Everyone, take your position.”

Ako, Rinko, and Lisa all moved to surround Nishimoto, each of them standing on a point of the frozen pentagram beneath him. Still holding his arms, Sayo adjusted herself slightly and once she did, Yukina took a step forward.

“Nishimoto-san, do you know why you're here?”

Yukina's voice was blunt and heavy and each word felt like it was clawing its way into Nishimoto's ears. He tried to turn away, but his whole body was paralyzed.

“Please, I have no idea what this is about but I'll give you whatever you want!” Nishimoto strained himself to speak, his breath ragged and coarse like sand spilling from his throat, “ lDo you want better contract terms? Money? I'll give you double the signing fee up front, I swear!”

Yukina didn't even blink. She just kept staring at him, through him, and beyond him.

“Nishimoto-San, do you remember my father? You were the talent scouts who signed his band to your label. You were one of the six men who stole his voice, aren't you?”

“No, I swear that wasn't-” Nishimoto choked and coughed, his lungs full of frigid air, “I had nothing to do with that, I just got him to sign the contract I didn't know they were going to take his voice. I didn't know!”

Yukina ignored him entirely.

“You stole music from him, Nishimoto-san. Now we're going to carry out the justice my father deserves.”

“Wait!” Nishimoto gasped, looking around himself and finally turning to Lisa. “Please! Please ask her to stop this, you're such a kind girl, aren't you? How could you let your friends do such a thing?”

He waited and hoped, but Lisa's eyes only narrowed and she glowered down at him like Death.

“You know…” Lisa said, her voice cracking slightly, “When we were little, Yukina and I would always sing with her dad. I'd play the bass and Yukina would sing there in her living room… And then you stole her dad's voice, and now we can never sing with him again.” Lisa clenched her fist so tight, hee hands began to shake. “Do you know how many nights Yukina cried because of you!? I will never, ever forgive you for that.”

Lisa stretched her hand out and Yukina followed suit. When Nishimoto tried to plead again, he nearly suffocated on the heavy air and the mist swirling around him. Through the sound of crackling fire, he could just barely hear Yukina's voice.

“Don't worry. You won't die here. You'll survive so that you can tell the label executives that we're coming for them. But you still need to suffer for your cruelty-from now on, you'll never hear another note or chord for the rest of time.”

Smoke strangled Nishimoto as he fought against the weight of frost and mist swirling around him. He screamed and shouted and begged for help but his voice was lost in the dark, slowly winking away from him as his vision went black and he felt himself falling through an endless sea.

Then, with a start, Nishimoto opened his eyes and found himself standing back where he'd been just minutes before. Judging by the applause around him, he figured that Roselia had just finished their first song. Sweat dripped from his brow and he laughed at his own beating heart.

“Ha…” he whispered to himself, “must have dozed off somehow, I can't-”

A scream rattled Nishimoto's ears and his eyes went wide. On stage, he saw Roselia beginning their next song and everyone around him was cheering, but each time he saw Ako hit her drums, each time Sayo strummed chord, the only thing he heard were deafening, blood-churning screams. They were his screams, playing back to him over and over each time Roselia played a note.

Panting and near the point of panic, Noshimoto shoved his way past the rest of the audience and stumbled into CiRCLE's lobby. He could still hear his screams from behind him, but the sounds of the stage was muted and soft. The lobby was warmer and thankfully empty save for a few employees and high school girls waiting around for the show to finish. Nishimoto wiped the sweat from his face with his sleeve and headed for the door. As he passed the girls waiting nearby, one of them pulled out her phone 

“Oh, hey, do you wanna hear my new ringtone?”

Another girl beamed at her. “Yeah! It's their new single, right?”

“Yep!” The first girl grinned proudly and pressed a button on her phone. The speakers crackled once and then Nishimoto's heard his own screams fill the room. The girls laughed and bounced their heads to the sound, and as they started singing along, their voices became his screams as well. Nishimoto stared at them in horror as he stumbled toward the door, scurrying out into the courtyard and then running into the night until he was too exhausted to move.

 

* * *

 

After the show, Roselia gathered backstage an. Lisa immediately rushed up to Yukina and hugged her. Yukina stumbled back a step, startled for a moment before raising her hands to hold Lisa as well. When they finally pulled apart, Lisa was frowning.

“Yukina, I was so worried about you! You said we'd go and talk to that guy together and then you went and met him on your own.”

Yukina glanced away quickly before resigning herself to Lisa's judgment.

“You've already been doing more than enough,” Yukina said softly, “I can't ask you to do even more than that. I'm the one who dragged you and everyone else into this. I'll handle as much as I can on my own.”

“No, you won't,” Lisa said, setting her hands on Yukina's shoulders, “We're all with you in this, so you don't need to go off and do things on your own. Let us help you more, Yukina.”

“That's right…” Rinko said, almost too quiet for anyone to hear, “We did this… because we wanted to help you.”

“Rinko…” Yukina closed her eyes a moment and scowled. “I'm grateful to you all, but I don't want Roselia to merely be a tool of revenge. We have a much greater goal than that, and I won't put you all in danger for my personal matters.”

“It is hardly dangerous.” Sayo glared sharply. “Humans are very little threat to us and they have very little recourse. I agree that we should continue to prioritize rehearsal time, however. Our future plans should be more efficient and concise so that we don't take up as much time as we did planning tonight's ritual.”

“But it was really cool!” Ako smiled and sipped on a tiny IV bag full of O negative blood, “Yukina-San, the way you looked down at him when we were doing the curse was so cool!”

Yukina looked around the room and, in spite of herself, she smiled.

“Thank you, Everyone. Roselia will continue striving toward the top of the music world, and if we have time, then along the way we'll deal with the men who stole my father's voice.”

“Yep, exactly.” Lisa nodded and her ears perked up happily. “Oh, speaking of your dad, did he make it tonight?”

Yukina only grinned a bit, glancing back at a small bouquet and a card left on the dressing room table.

“He arrived just before and then left immediately after,” Yukina said, “but he heard us play.”

Lisa's tail curled up and whipped back and forth. “That's great, Yukina! Although he could be said it to you directly…” Lisa smiled a bit wry, “I guess the way you never talk about how you feel comes from your dad, right?”

Yukina blushed and a blue glow rose under the scales on her cheeks.

“Lisa…”

Yukina steadied herself a moment later and looked back to everyone in turn, her voice full of gratitude, and something a bit softer as well.

“Thank you for tonight, Everyone. I feel like I can sing more clearly and with my head held higher after everything we've done tonight.”

Everyone was silent for a breath. Yukina smiled and she looked so peaceful, Lisa nearly melted on the spot. She linked her arm in Yukina's and raised a hand to cheer.

“Okay! Now let's go celebrate at our usual restaurant!”

“If we must,” Sayo sighed, even as her tail was wagging furiously.

The five members of Roselia left their dressing room together, walking together through the moonlit dark as they headed to their usual family restaurant. At that same time, somewhere over the trees and beyond the streetlights, Nishimoto huddled in his car with the doors locked, deathly terrified of everything that could possibly make a sound. 


End file.
